AcademyHealth is pleased to submit to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) this application to convene the Electronic Data Methods (EDM) Forum for Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) ("EDM Forum"). For this project, AcademyHealth, working closely with AHRQ staff, will coordinate a series of meetings with PROSPECT grantees and the EDM Forum Steering Committee, and convene a series of stakeholder symposia to address and resolve (when feasible) the infrastructure and methods challenges faced by the PROSPECT projects. AcademyHealth will also develop and broadly disseminate useful and timely products (needs assessments, issue briefs, papers, reports, and other analytic products) on scientific, clinical, technical, organizational, and data governance topics. Through these activities, AcademyHealth is confident the EDM Forum can successfully advance the development of infrastructure and methods that will serve as the foundation for sustainable and scalable electronic clinical databases for CER over time. AcademyHealth is ideally suited to the tasks outlined for the EDM Forum, and brings to this effort a unique combination of content knowledge in CER, as well as established processes and platforms for convening stakeholders and disseminating information. AcademyHealth is also a trusted partner across the primary stakeholder groups identified by AHRQ -- experts in clinical registries, distributed research methods, health information technology and outcomes and effectiveness research;practicing clinicians;and other relevant stakeholders including patients, business leaders, and policymakers. With all of these groups, AcademyHealth has demonstrated a successful ability to: " conduct research on research, including needs assessments in specific areas of research;" convene and provide guidance on methods topics;and " create a marketplace of people and ideas that advances understanding of the complex technical, clinical, organizational, and policy issues in health research. Our previous work with high-functioning learning networks has demonstrated how important it is for participants to establish a common understanding of challenges that unify the efforts of the group, thereby promoting trust and collaboration. We feel that our prior work in numerous related areas would be a major asset to the project. AcademyHealth has a long and successful history of partnering effectively with AHRQ to support the research field and ensure uptake of resulting evidence. Drawing on existing partnerships, projects, and experienced staff, AcademyHealth can ensure the participation of all relevant stakeholders envisioned by AHRQ for the EDM Forum, and has the staff and consulting resources to develop and disseminate a range of products that can help advance development of the methods and infrastructure for collection and analysis of prospective patient data from electronic clinical databases for CER. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: AcademyHealth is pleased to submit to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) this application to convene the Electronic Data Methods (EDM) Forum for Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) ("EDM Forum"). The EDM Forum will advance methods related to development of the infrastructure and methodology for collecting and analyzing prospective data from electronic clinical data bases for CER. A key task of this initiative is to support investigators conducting the Prospective Outcome Systems using Patient-specific Electronic data to Compare Tests and therapies (PROSPECT) studies, and to assemble relevant stakeholders with an interest in addressing and resolving (when feasible) the infrastructure and methods challenges for these projects. Working closely with AHRQ staff, AcademyHealth will coordinate a series of meetings with key PROSPECT project staff and the EDM Forum Steering Committee, and convene a series of stakeholder symposia. AcademyHealth will also develop and broadly disseminate useful and timely products (needs assessments, issue briefs, papers, reports, and other analytic products) on scientific, clinical, technical, organizational, and data governance topics. AcademyHealth is ideally suited to the tasks outlined by AHRQ for the EDM Forum due to the organization's unique combination of content knowledge in CER and established processes and platforms for convening stakeholders and disseminating information. Equally important, AcademyHealth is a trusted partner among the primary stakeholders identified by AHRQ -- experts in clinical registries, distributed research methods, health information technology and outcomes and effectiveness research;practicing clinicians;and other relevant stakeholders including patients, business leaders and policymakers. By undertaking the convening efforts outlined, developing relevant and timely products, and disseminating EDM Forum and PROSPECT materials widely, AcademyHealth is confident the EDM Forum can successfully support development of the infrastructure and methods needed to ensure a sustainable and scalable foundation for the use of electronic clinical databases for CER over time.